Walt Whitman High School's Online Newspaper

Student hacks into Pinnacle grading system

A student broke through security barriers on Whitman’s Pinnacle grading system Sept. 23, changing grades entered by several teachers.

The administration informed the affected teachers as soon as they discovered the incident. The breach did not destroy mass amounts of data.
“There was a minor change that was revealed. The teachers were informed and the change was rectified,” principal Alan Goodwin said.
Administrators reported the incident to MCPS, which is currently analyzing the flaw to improve security for the future, assistant principal Jennifer Webster said.
“The programmers who wrote the [Pinnacle] program are using the experience to improve their security,” she said.
The student discovered a flaw in the security system and was thus able to access teachers’ Pinnacle accounts. The student did not, however, log into the account via a staff member’s network account, Webster said. Administrators have disciplined the student accordingly.

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